The bell signalling dinner chimed throughout the Academy, and all the Hargreeves children began making their way into the dining area in a single file.
They all stood at their designated seating arrangement, waiting behind their chairs as their father entered the room. Sir Hargreeves sat at the top of the long table, with Vanya on the opposite end. Next to Hargreeves on his left was Allison, Thea, Klaus and Ben. On his right sat Luther, Diego and Five. Hargreeves walked in and stood behind his seat, before announcing in his deep voice, "Sit."
The children all sat and eagerly began eating their meal. Thea turned to whisper to Allison and saw her stealing glances with Luther, who sat across from her. Thea smiled to herself and turned away, giving them their 'privacy'. They made it so obvious that she was honestly surprised their father hadn't noticed yet.
Though maybe he had...as long as it didn't compromise missions, maybe he didn't care.
Sat on Thea's left was her brother Klaus. Thea had initially wanted to sit by Ben, but she'd already had to wrangle her way into her current position - as she and Luther should have been sat directly next to Hargreeves as Number Zero and Number One respectively.
Thea glanced at her twin and sniggered to herself when she saw him discreetly rolling a joint underneath the table. She looked past him to see Ben, who was trying to read his book and eat at the same time. She smiled fondly at the endearing sight. What a dork.
Thea began eating her own food, enjoying the hearty meal when a bang startled her. She looked up to see an angry Five, who had stabbed his knife into the table while glaring at their Father. Thea raised a brow.
"Number Five?" Hargreeves asked stoically.
"I have a question," Five drawled sarcastically.
"Knowledge is an admiral goal, but you know the rules. No talking during mealtimes. You are interrupting Herr Carlson."
Thea didn't understand what Five was doing; he wasn't one to follow the rules, per se, but he'd never directly spoken out like this before. She bit her lip, debating on whether to peek into his mind for her answers and her worry eventually won.
Fuck it.
Thea focused on Five, trying to be subtle with what she was doing. Once inside, she swiftly scoured through his surface thoughts and once she found what he was planning to ask, she let out a small gasp. Everyone at the table turned to look at Thea as she stared at Five with wide eyes. Five's gaze narrowed suspiciously.
Hargreeves looked towards the girl, his expression blank. "What is it, Number Zero?"
Thea opened her mouth to answer but Five cut across instead. "I want to time-travel."
"No," Hargreeves dismissed immediately.
"But I'm ready," Five persisted. "I've been practising my spatial jumps, just like you said."
He stood up from his chair and narrowed his eyes in concentrating, disappearing from his place with a displaced pop and appearing next to their father. "See?"
The children at the table shared uneasy looks, feeling awkward at the sudden change in routine and anxious about what was going to happen next.
"A spatial jump is trivial when compared with the unknowns of time-travel," Hargreeves said as he continued eating his meal. "One is like sliding along the ice, the other is akin to descending blindly into the depths of the freezing water and reappearing as an acorn."
Five's jaw clenched. "Well, I don't get it."
Hargreeves lifted his glass, "Hence the reason you're not ready."
Thea had given up on her meal at this point as she was too busy raptly listening to what was going on. Everybody else tried continuing on as though nothing was happening, but Vanya was the only one other than Thea paying attention. She tried shaking her head at Five, telling him to stop what he was doing.
"I'm not afraid," Five declared.
"Fear isn't the issue," Hargreeves replied. "The effects it might have on your body, even on your mind, are far too unpredictable."
Against her will, Thea agreed with their father's words. She may not like the old bastard, but nobody could deny he knew what he was talking about. That didn't mean he had to be so dismissive, but even she understood that Five wanting to time-travel at such a young age couldn't end well.
"Now, I forbid you to talk about this anymore," Hargreeves demanded.
Five's expression screwed up into a snarl and he turned away, stomping out of the dining room.
"Number Five! You haven't been excused!"
Five ignored the man and instead, he stalked across the room with a determined expression. Everybody at the table simply looked on, blinking at the sudden turn about of events.
Five had almost made it out of the dining room before he suddenly came to a screeching halt, his body freezing in place. He grunted as he tried moving his legs and his anger came out full force, already pushed to his limits. He turned his head - which was exempt from the influence - and glared fiercely at his sister.
"Stop it," he gritted out through clenched teeth.
Sir Hargreeves and her siblings turned to Thea in shock. Thea stared straight back at Five with a steely glint in her eyes.
"Don't do anything rash. Just stay and you can try time-travelling in a few years," she tried reasoning with him.
Everybody now understood what was happening and they watched the battle take place; Thea trying to control Five into stopping and Five's determined attempt at escape.
"Get. Out. Of. My. Head."
Thea's face crumpled into sadness, her eyes shining with desperation. "I'm sorry, I don't want to do this but you're being too rash. I just don't want you getting hurt."
She didn't want him to hate her for what she was doing, but she knew if he decided to go against their Father's words and time-travel, he was bound to get hurt, or at the least, get punished for disobeying. "Please, Five."
"Zero, stop," Five said between clenched teeth.
Thea's eyes narrowed in concentration and they turned a ghostly white.
"Sit down," She ordered, her voice slightly deeper as she spoke.
To everyone's shock, Five began to turn around and walk mechanically to the table. His limbs were jerky in their movements and his eyes blazed in fury; the only indication that it was against his will.
Just as he was about to reach his seat, he turned his stare directly at Thea and sent her a wave of anger and hatred through his mind, knowing it would throw her off balance. Just as he expected, Thea's eyes widened in hurt - her eyes beginning to fill with tears - and her concentration slipped. Five took his chance and spatial jumped away outside, ignoring the cry of pain behind him.
Sir Hargreeves looked down at Thea in consideration. The young girl had reeled back in shock and was sitting at the table with teary eyes, biting her lip to muffle her cries.
Thea wanted to sob at the amount of anger and resentment she'd felt coming from Five and instead berated herself for losing control of him; blaming herself for whatever would happen to Five as a consequence.
She could feel the weight of her family's stares and refused to meet their eyes, looking down at her hand in shame. "I'm sorry."
"And what would that apology be for exactly, Number Zero?" Hargreeves enquired.
"I wasn't able to stop him. I shouldn't have even tried..." Thea felt ashamed and lost.
Hargreeves took one last look at Thea before continuing to eat his meal, saying nothing more on the matter. The other children awkwardly followed suit, glancing toward Thea and the doorway between bites.
Thea felt Klaus' hand hold hers from underneath the table. "It wasn't your fault," he whispered.
Logically, she knew that, but couldn't help thinking she should have been able to stop him. To have been strong enough to prevent her brother from leaving.
I just hope he gets back okay...I'll apologise when he does and pray he forgives me.
Of course, none of them could have known that Five would be gone for the next 16 years, 4 months and 14 days.
End of Flashback
Thea woke up the next morning feeling comfier than she had in years. Blinking open her eyes, she saw her sister standing at the end of the bed, folding clothes.
Thea was confused at where she was until she remembered last nights events. The memorial. Luther and Diego's fight. Ben's statue. Her losing control. Thea felt like groaning in embarrassment. Why did she have to lose control like that? Her chest ached at the thought of hurting her family and she bit her lip in mounting guilt.
I hurt my own brothers. Even if they deserved it, I had no right to use my powers on them like that. Thea was determined to find them and apologise. Hopefully, they'd understand and would forgive her.
"Finally awake, sleepy-head?" Allison chirped in amusement.
Thea blinked another few times, sitting up from the warm covers and stretching. God Allison, whatever you use as a mattress works wonders. I haven't felt this relaxed waking up in years.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm up." She glanced at the suitcase Allison was packing clothes into and raised a brow, "Where you off to?"
Allison opened her mouth to reply but a knocking at the door interrupted her. They both looked toward the doorway to see Luther with his hand still raised awkwardly. Thea got up and stretched again, groaning as her back let out a satisfying pop.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I need some coffee. I'll leave you guys to it." Thea looked toward Allison, "and thanks for last night. I really needed it."
Allison gave Thea a genuine, loving smile, "Me too."
Thea walked out of the room but was stopped in the corridor by Luther. He looked around awkwardly, unable to meet her stare. "Um, Thea, can we, uh- can we talk?"
Thea raised a brow and shrugged. "Sure."
Luther looked at Allison and she waved them off, carrying on her silent packing. Luther and Thea stepped further into the hallway, allowing them some privacy. Before he could talk, Thea decided to start on that apology she'd promised.
"Look, Luther, about yesterday..." she started.
"I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry."
They both blurted out at once, staring at one another with wide eyes. They continued to stare before descending into chuckles at their actions. Thea shook her head and tried again.
"I'm sorry for using my powers on you and Diego. It was wrong of me and I'm not proud of letting my emotions get the better of me...I feel terrible for hurting you both and I'd understand if you didn't want to forgive me." Thea looked down in guilt, "I'm sorry."
Luther looked at his sister with fond eyes. Despite them being the same age, he saw her as the little sister he had to care for. Allison was never a sister to him, and he hadn't spent enough time with Vanya to develop a deep enough relationship. Thea however, she'd been his sister from the beginning, and despite her being a powerful woman in her own right, he felt protective over her. It didn't help that compared to him, she was tiny.
Luther took a step closer and wrapped his huge arms around her petite frame. Thea's eyes widened in shock but she soon wrapped her own arms around him too, barely reaching his back.
"It's okay," Luther started. "I know you didn't mean what you did and even though your words hurt, I can understand why you said them."
He pulled back and looked down at her, scratching his neck awkwardly. "I'm sorry for letting my emotions get the better of me, too. It was wrong of me to be so careless and I'll help fix Ben's statue as soon as possible."
Thea smiled fondly at her brother, knowing he sincerely meant well.
He has his faults, we all do, but at the end of the day he's my brother and I love him despite those faults.
"Thanks, Luth," she whispered.
She took a step back and smiled mischievously, "I'll let you get back to Allison. Just remember to lay on the charm, hm?" she winked slyly.
Luther tried spluttering out denials and Thea waved him off, already walking past him and down the hallway. "Go get 'em!"
With Zero coffee in the house, Thea decided to suck it up and make do with tea. It could do with something stronger...maybe I could raid Dad's stash.
With that in mind, she made her way through the house, her father's minibar and his best vintage on her mind.
Reaching the living room, Thea heard her brother's drowsy voice. "-can't smoke eggs."
"You can certainly try," she piped in, interrupting his one-sided conversation.
Klaus spun around to look at Thea in shock, his naked form covered only by a tight pair of neon-green, leopard print underwear. She raised a brow at the horrendous fashion choice.
"What on earth are you wearing? Leopard print, really Klaus? I thought I raised you better," she muttered, shaking her head and continuing her journey to the bar.
She poured a cocktail of drinks into her tea, the liquid threatening to overflow from the mug and made her way back toward her brother, falling onto the sofa with a huff.
Thea noticed the silence and looked up at her brother. "What?"
Klaus was looking between his sister and where only he could see the ghost of Ben who sat across from her, in bewilderment. Thea narrowed her eyes at his suspicious behaviour.
"What's up with you? Why so shifty?"
Klaus took another glance at Ben, who was just staring at Thea fondly, love practically shining from his eyes. Klaus bit his lip, wanting nothing more than to blurt out Ben's presence but they'd both - him and Ben - agreed that Thea really wasn't in the right frame of mind for that kind of shock yet. He felt more confident in his decision as he saw her chug down the alcoholic mess in her cup.
Klaus had only been able to see Ben since he'd gotten clean after the scare of almost losing Thea, and at that point, she'd already suffered a mental breakdown; he didn't want to add onto that stress.
Klaus knew Ben was happy either way, just being able to watch Thea and talk to Klaus every now and then enough to satisfy him. The last thing he wanted was to bring back bad memories for the girl he loved.
Thea cleared her throat, surprising Klaus out of his deep thoughts. "Huh?"
She gave him an unimpressed look. "I said, who're you talking to, buddy?"
Klaus just shrugged, acting natural. "Ah, you know, the usual. Vengeful spirit seeking revenge." He wiggled his fingers, imitating a spooky pose and Thea snorted at his immaturity.
A throat clearing scared them both, Thea jumped in her seat while Klaus squeaked. "Christ on a cracker! Pogo?"
Pogo stood in the entryway, an amused smile curling his lips. "My apologies, Miss Thea. Master Klaus, I have a query for you."
"Oh?"
"Items from your Father's office have gone missing. In particular, an ornate box with pearled inlay," Pogo described.
Thea turned to Klaus in mild amusement, a brow raised imperiously and a knowing glint in her eye.
"Really?" Both Thea and Ben said at the same time, unknowingly on the girl's part.
Klaus shook his head at their synchronicity and turned to look innocently at Pogo. "Really? You don't say..."
"Any idea where it went?" Pogo pushed, staring intently at Klaus.
Klaus tried adopting an innocent expression, though his acting left much to be desired. "No, no, no. No idea." He sighed in faux sadness, "Sorry."
Thea snorted. "Liar," she mumbled under her breath.
"Liar." Ben drawled.
Klaus shook off their freaky in-sync talking. "Drop dead," he whispered to Ben.
Thea frowned, confused whether he meant herself or Pogo, while Ben turned his head to stare at Klaus, "Low blow."
"Would you shut up!" Klaus whispered desperately, sick of his brother's quips.
Thea huffed in amusement, realising he must be distracted by some ghost he could see. Pogo, however, was taken aback. "Excuse me?"
Klaus tried defending himself but Pogo carried on, not put off by his erratic behaviour.
"The contents of that box are priceless. Were they to find their way back to the office, whoever took it would be absolved of any blame or consequences."
"Oh, well, lucky bastard."
Pogo clicked his tongue, unimpressed. "Indeed," he drawled and narrowed his gaze at the fidgeting Klaus before walking out.
Klaus stood staring at where Pogo just left for a few minutes, cursing himself for once again not bothering to think before he acted. The consequences of his actions were coming back to bite him in the ass, again.
"What'd you do with it?" Thea asked, unamused.
Klaus turned to his sister with wide eyes. "With what?"
Thea gave him an unimpressed look, much like Pogo had moments before. "Don't try and fool me, Klaus. I'm your twin. I know all your tells," she drawled. "Plus, I've always been the better liar of the two of us, so spill."
Klaus gave a dramatic sigh before falling onto the sofa, ignoring Ben's protest as he stole his position. He lay his head on her lap and took a drag of his joint. "Pawned it, yesterday whilst you were sleeping."
"And why exactly did you do that?"
"Extra cash."
"Why do you even need extra cash? I buy everything for you as it is," Thea replied indignantly.
Klaus gave a small shrug, pursing his lips in mild embarrassment. "You won't have to spend money on me if I have my own," he mumbled.
Thea's frown softened, and she sighed in exasperation. "You're going to steal off of the wrong person one day, Klausy. Besides, you know I don't mind buying you things."
Klaus nodded but wasn't persuaded. He knew just how much of a free-loader he was on his sister and it made him feel awful, but he just couldn't hold down a job to help out. He took another drag before offering it to Thea. She smiled in thanks and took a long drag herself, sighing in contentment.
Klaus saw Ben's unimpressed stare at the two and hissed, forgetting Thea could hear him. She opened her eyes and looked toward the empty space where Ben stood.
"What, does Mr-Revenge-ghost over there disapprove of us smoking?" she asked sarcastically.
Klaus huffed in amusement at Ben's affronted expression. "Yeah, apparently. Buzzkill," he taunted, smirking.
Thea laughed out loud, her eyes crinkling at the corners. "Well, the next time Mr Buzzkill has to babysit you and deal with everyone else in this house without their morning cup of coffee, maybe he'll want a smoke too."
She took another long drag and Klaus snorted at her comment. He pretended to pout, "I don't need babysitting. I do just fine."
Thea laughed, "Oh trust me, babysitting you is a 24/7 job."
Thea honestly didn't know how she got herself into these kinds of situations.
She was sat on Klaus' lap with her legs tucked into her chest, squished inside of a tiny wardrobe. Klaus shuffled in boredom, making the wardrobe croak and Thea smacked him to stay still.
The voices of Vanya and Five talking from outside were clear even inside the closet and Thea had been listening to them both intently. Vanya's footsteps soon drifted down the stairs and Klaus threw open the doors of the wardrobe and scrambled out in a rush.
Thea yelped as she barely managed to catch herself before falling onto the floor. She gave Klaus a glare but he hardly noticed, too busy pretending to cry, putting on the dramatics.
"That's so touching...all that stuff about family and Dad and time. Wow!" he exclaimed loudly.
"Would you shut up? She'll hear you," Five hissed, checking the hallway to ensure Vanya wasn't still around.
"I'm moist!"
Thea gave Klaus a disgusted look, "Ew."
Five was staring at Klaus' outfit choice, his face scrunched up into an irritated scowl. "I thought I told you to put on something professional."
Klaus put a hand to his chest, confused at the animosity while Thea snorted at his ugly clothing. The frilly blouse made him look more like a pirate that'd ransacked an old woman's closet than anything resembling professional and his skinny leather pants looked painted onto his legs.
"What? This is my nicest outfit."
Five 's brow twitched and he ground his teeth together, he pointed towards Thea who was watching stood between them, watching.
"No. That is professional. You look ridiculous."
She was wearing long, stylish suit pants that she'd stolen from Allison and a sheer, smart blouse she'd gotten from Grace. Luckily, she was able to wear her own pumps as Allison was so tall the pants covered her feet.
No heels for me. Nope. Thea in heels was like watching a baby giraffe walk for the first time. Painful and cringe-inducing.
Five sighed in exasperation and turned to leave. "We'll raid the old man's closet."
Thea and Klaus hurried to follow their brother, shuffling behind him.
"Whatever, as long as I get paid."
"When the job is done."
Thea rolled her eyes at Klaus' naivety. Did he really think Five was going to pay him? The one brother that was known to be as sly as they came? You're so easily distracted by money, Klausy.
"Okay, but just so we're clear on the finer details, I've just gotta go into this place and pretend to be your dear old Dad, correct?" Klaus asked.
"Yeah, something like that," Five muttered.
"What's our cover story?"
Thea gave her brother a look. "That's good enough isn't it?"
Klaus shook his head, muttering about their foolishness and took a theatrical pose. "No, no. I mean, was I really young when I had you? Like, 16? Like, young and terribly misguided."
Five and Thea shared an exasperated glance and she shrugged. Five sighed in hopelessness, "Fine, whatever."
Klaus continued his monologue, ignoring whatever they'd said, too busy in his own world. "Your mother, that slut." Thea let out a surprised laugh. "Whoever she was. We met at...the disco. Remember that."
He groaned dramatically, "Oh my god, the sex was amaaaazing."
Thea gave her brother another disgusted look, her lip curling back in a snarl. "Really, Klaus? Too much information."
"What a disturbing glimpse into that thing you call a brain," Five drawled unimpressed.
He continued leading them down the stairs and Thea followed dutifully, smoothing down her blouse as she went.
"I'm still questioning whether I absorbed all the brain cells whilst in the womb and left none for him, honestly," she mused, prompting a snort from Five and an affronted yell from Klaus.
"Hey! Don't make me put you both in time-out."